Page 64 of He Loves Me, He Loves Me Not

‘You two are disgusting.’ I cut him off, not wanting to hear the end of that sentence even a little bit.

‘Don’t I know it.’ He laughs. ‘Later.’ He ends the call abruptly.

‘What’d he want?’ Mercy asks.

‘For me to cover the shop tomorrow.’

‘Blast. From. The. Past,’ she says with a laugh. ‘Maybe I’ll stop in and “borrow” some CDs.’ She waggles her eyebrows. That was her thing when we were teens. She’s obsessed with music; obviously, she’s a musician. Back in the days of our youth, she’d ‘borrow’ CDs, burn a copy, then bring them back unnoticed. Really, she should be in jail right now.

‘Come by. I’ll let you build the playlist for the day.’

One of Mom’s requirements is a brand-new playlist every day. God forbid a regular customer come in two days in a row and hear the same song. I realize she hates change, but she loves music more, so River set her up on Apple Music a few years back. That day he called me to yell the things he wanted to yell at her while teaching her how to use it. It wasn’t pleasant.

‘I’m up for some nostalgia. What time?’

‘I’ll be there eight to five.’

I guess youcanturn back time. Tomorrow will be interesting.

15

DAX

The Next Day…

‘It just…wouldn’twork?’ Jake looks horrified as he says the words.

Maybe I overshared?

‘That’s right. Everywhere I looked were pieces of her. A sweater thrown over a barstool. Her make-up spread across the bathroom counter. That damn Snuggy was on my couch, Jake. I couldn’t get her out of my head.’

‘Or your pants,’ he says with a laugh. ‘Was Syd mad?’

I chuckle, but not because it’s funny. Impotence is never amusing. I found that out last night. My head and groin were on two different planets, and nothing I tried aligned them.

‘She uh’ – I laugh – ‘she yelled at it at one point. Eye to eye. If anything, it just scared it more.’

Jake belly laughs, making me feel like the biggest loser on the planet. I stand at the back of my delivery truck, dropping my head back.

‘Yeah, yeah, get it all out.’

‘I’m sorry,’ Jake bellows. ‘It’s funny.’

‘Just wait; your turn’s coming.’

He shakes his head as if it’s impossible. ‘Maybe the magic is gone?’ He grabs an arrangement from the makeshift floral shop I’ve got set up in my mom’s garage and walks it over to me. ‘Honestly, not sure how you’ve ever felt magic with Sydney. Girl’s hot as fire but cold as stone. Brynn says she’s the Patricia to your Joe Fox.’

I roll my eyes. ‘Brynn watches too many romance movies.’

‘I’m not arguing with that,’ he says. ‘Let me ask ya something. Do you even actuallylikeSydney?’

Jake agreed to help me with deliveries today because I’ve gotten double the orders I usually would ever since the show started doing promotions. It might only be on YouTube, but word has somehow spread.

I step into my truck to arrange things so everything will fit.

‘Of course I like her. I wouldn’t spend time with her if I didn’t. Would we make a terrible couple in real life? Without question. She’s way too business for me. But for a couple hours a week, she’s exactly my type.’

‘That was almost romantic,’ he says. ‘Though, I think you meant shewasexactly your type. Your penis protested last night because the cute hot blonde you’ve crushed on your entire life moved into the bedroom next to yours a few weeks ago.’

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